What are the Types of BCM Audit?

Types of Audits

It is essential when reading this book to remember that it aims to serve as a guide to the reader who is:

An Internal Auditor of an organization.
An External Auditor from a professional audit firm
A third party, such as a BCMS Auditor.

The significant differences are that if an audit is conducted internally, familiarity with the information and knowledge about the Auditees reduces the introductory formality, and certain formalities are minimised.

Internal Audit (First Party Audit)

First-party audits are for organizations auditing themselves for internal purposes. This audit need not be conducted in-house; an external organization can also do so.

External Audit (Second Party Audit)

Second-party audit is an external audit usually performed by customers or by any other party on the organization’s behalf. It can also be done by any external party interested in the "Auditee" organization.

External Audit (Third Party Audit)

Independent external organizations perform Third-party Audits to determine whether an organization complies with the standard. Third-party auditors are commonly referred to as registrars or certification bodies.

Summing Up ...

This book introduces a type of audit called Certification Audit. It entails auditing an organisation before it embarks on a BCM certification audit. The Auditors, led by a Lead Auditor, inspect and certify the organization against a BCM standard.

The content of this book also provides and shows the application of the principles and methodologies for reviewing and auditing a BCM Plan.

Based on my practical experience as both an Auditor (public accounting firm) and Reviewer (internal and external BCM Consultant within organisations) of BCM Plans and programs,

I have prepared and included a series of easy-to-use BCM Questionnaires that can be easily tailored to be used as Standardised Audit Programs. This is to assist persons without prior audit experience in BCM in performing audits of specific business units and corporate-wide BC Plans or BCM programs.

Resource

Goh, M. H. (2016). A Manager's Guide to Auditing and Reviewing Your Business Continuity Management Program. Business Continuity Management Series (2nd ed.). Singapore: GMH Pte Ltd.